your review of the MXL 990

Compared to say... SP B1 or Shure SM57, how is the MXL 990?

  • Good

    Votes: 136 65.4%

  • Bad

    Votes: 72 34.6%
  • Total voters
    208
I got mine for free with my fostex and the mic has never worked. It just hums away and no sound is reproduced.


emmdom
 
I'm really getting confused here. 3 or 4 people have now said that their new mic either sounded broken or didn't work at all.

If I buy something new and it doesn't work right (or not at all), I simply call the manufacturer and ask them to fix it. That's all it takes. MXL has a toll-free number. Why aren't these people getting their mic fixed - for free? These mics all come with a warranty.

When my V69ME wasn't working right, MXL sent me another one that worked. When the SP B1 I had was dead, PMI Audio sent another one. When my Shure mics go out, Shure fixes them. So why don't all these people with brand new bad mics get them fixed? I just don't understand this.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
If I buy something new and it doesn't work right (or not at all), I simply call the manufacturer and ask them to fix it.
Click to expand...

Or at least send an email with a question or two. I've done that with nearly every product I've ever purchased and nearly always had a prompt, helpful response. I work abroad a lot, and I can easily state that comanies in the USA have some of the best customer service in the world. I take advantage of that whenever I can.

J.
 
Yeah, I'm totally in agreement with Harvey on this. There certainly may be duds out there and quality control is a known issue with some of these inexpensive mics, but that's why there are warranties. I had a 990 crap out on me after about the first month. I just called Musician's Friend and they sent me a new one and a return authorization for the broken one. I'm sure the manufacturer would do the same. If you bought a Neumann and it stopped working, would you just say, "well, clearly all Neumann mics suck" and just eat the $2000 loss?
 
Yes Phantom power is on, i tired it on my mackie, fostex and berhinger mixer. Hum is a bad word know that i think about it. A decent levels nothing comes out, as the level goes up all there that comes out is noise. I know the phantom power works becaue I just bought a akg perception 200(?) and that picks up a really low levels. So I don't know what is wrong with my 990.

emmdom

BTW i just haven't had time to call tech support I am getting to it.
On the other hand please do not take my first post as testement to the quality of the mic. I just wasn't suprised when the mic didn't work. I mean Musicians friend isn't going to give away junk but they aren't going to give away top of the line quality stuff nor did excpect anything more then what i got for free. I do hope that Marshall will fix the problem but if i am going to have to pay I just won't do it.
 
jeffree said:
Or at least send an email with a question or two. I've done that with nearly every product I've ever purchased and nearly always had a prompt, helpful response. I work abroad a lot, and I can easily state that comanies in the USA have some of the best customer service in the world. I take advantage of that whenever I can.

J.
Click to expand...

I don't live in the US (wished I did) but have bought audio toys there and ordered from there and all I can say is that the customer service in the US is first class and probably the best in the world.

So as Harvey said you now know what to do with your MXL 990. BTW my 990/991 combo rocks.
 
For those of you who claimed the 990 to be a great guitar amp mic , where did you place it for optimal performance. Or is this an inaccurate question do to the type of amp youre playing and how many speakers youre micing?Thanks.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
I'm really getting confused here. 3 or 4 people have now said that their new mic either sounded broken or didn't work at all.

If I buy something new and it doesn't work right (or not at all), I simply call the manufacturer and ask them to fix it. That's all it takes. MXL has a toll-free number. Why aren't these people getting their mic fixed - for free? These mics all come with a warranty.

When my V69ME wasn't working right, MXL sent me another one that worked. When the SP B1 I had was dead, PMI Audio sent another one. When my Shure mics go out, Shure fixes them. So why don't all these people with brand new bad mics get them fixed? I just don't understand this.
Click to expand...

The reason i never sent it back was because i figured it was just a mic that i didn't like. I honestly didn't think there was anything wrong with it until i've heard other people saying it was great. Then I was like...either their all nuts, or i got a busted one.

I think it would cost me as much as the mic did just to send it back. I might give it a try though...It just never seemed worth the effort. What it did do was get me to not want to try MXLs anymore...irrational or not, that was the effect it had on me. That's when i bought a couple decent Studio Project mics and never really looked back.
 
Erockrazor said:
For those of you who claimed the 990 to be a great guitar amp mic , where did you place it for optimal performance. Or is this an inaccurate question do to the type of amp youre playing and how many speakers youre micing?Thanks.
Click to expand...

I think it's a very solid mic for clean guitar work or perhaps even a small amount of bluesy distortion. I've placed it about 6-12" out from the speaker and moved it around to find the best sound. I've never tried it for high gain distortion, as dynamic mics are generally better than condensers for that duty.
 
bad hum

I had a bad hum in mine but I figured out that it had something to do with the body and grill being screwed together too tight. I twisted it (loosened) just a little and the hum was gone. I've gotten some nice tracks with that inexpensive little mic.
 
Can anyone speak to the longevity of these mics?

I read somewhere that the chinese capsules degrade relatively quickly over time. I have a couple 603's and orginal C1's that sound like they did the day I got them, but an older Grove Tubes 5sm *does* sound different than I remember when it was new- less detail. I *think* the 5sm was among the first wave of chinese capsule mics, but it was a while ago and digging up information on it is almost impossible now.

Considering getting a pair to augment the 603's. Too often I end up with the 603's as overheads and then wanting them somewhere else at the same.

Take care,
Chris
 
Like I said, the 990 was good enough to use on several main vocals on the new Feds album and my son also used it on the toms. I think he ran it thru the Millenia Media SST-1 Origin preamp and it sounded fine for the songs.
 
990 v. 603

Chris Shaeffer said:
Can anyone speak to the longevity of these mics?

I read somewhere that the chinese capsules degrade relatively quickly over time. I have a couple 603's and orginal C1's that sound like they did the day I got them, but an older Grove Tubes 5sm *does* sound different than I remember when it was new- less detail. I *think* the 5sm was among the first wave of chinese capsule mics, but it was a while ago and digging up information on it is almost impossible now.

Considering getting a pair to augment the 603's. Too often I end up with the 603's as overheads and then wanting them somewhere else at the same.

Take care,
Chris
Click to expand...

IMHO, The 990 sounds nothing like the 603 and the difference becomes more apparent the farther you are from the source. If you miss another set of 603s, get them---or get the EXTREMELY similar 991 in the GC MXL "Recording Pac", which costs the same as a 603 but also has a 990 included in the package. You'll end up with a 603 clone---and the 990 to play around with (I suggest football with long, deep passes).

Last year I did a location recording for some professional friends---a promo for their percussion trio. Since I had the time, situation, and spot, I additionally set up six distance pairs of $200-and-under* cardioid condenser mics to see how they worked out in ORTF and wide pairs. Not a single percussionist picked the 990 mics for any take or even liked their sound. Kindly put, distance miking is not their forte. At a distance, the midrange appears to be very much hyped and nothing like the published frequency curve would suggest.

I'm sure the 990 works great for some and is put to good use by knowledgeable pros as the situation calls for, but it is my least favorite phantom-powered condenser. I did eventually give one of my pair away to a needy** song writer, and I keep the other one for . . .uh. . .maybe someday. . .

Paj
8^)

* pairs: MXL 990, MXL991, Behringer B5, Octava MK319, SPB1, AKG 2000b.

** needy = prenuptial impoverishment
 
Hello

Alright I sent my 990 to Marshall and well it looks like they are goinging to try to fix the mic or send my a new one. So far I have spent $10 and 3 phone calls fixing a free gift, I hope when I get it back it will be worth it.

emmdom
 
Marshall couldn't fix the problem so they are sending me out a new one. I should get it my the end of the week. I was really empressed with there support. I was assisted by Robert at marshall really good guy. Here is another note, according to support the 990 only have a 1 year warrenty, but on musicians friend they say they have a 3 year warrenty. Anyways hope it works when it gets here and I will keep all informed

emmdom
 
Im curious if theres a way that i would be able to mod my mxl 990. I mean i dont know much about the interior of mics but im definitly willing to learn. Does anyone know of any mods or tweaks to help out my mxl 990. thanks.
 
i got a 990 and a 991 for 80 bucks.

i used the 991 on the neck, 990 at the soundhole, pointed at the 12th of my acoustic (then doubled the guitar). i used the 990 on the nylon, vocals, and the cellos.

for what i payed, and what i want, it's good. i used very little eq.

my first recording with these mics is hands to pockets on my myspace www.myspace.com/johnmarkh

other recordings were done with a carving cm50 (dynamic mic). "spring song" was done with a akg c1000 sdc, and a neumann ldc (forget the model)
 
I think the 990 is MARGINAL on vocals, but serves it purpose well as stereo Drunm overheads and room/ambience mics. Not too bad when used with an sm57 on an amp. For the price, it's hard to beat.
 
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